{"id":113,"date":"2022-08-26T23:24:06","date_gmt":"2022-08-26T23:24:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gunowner-news.com\/?p=113"},"modified":"2022-08-26T23:24:06","modified_gmt":"2022-08-26T23:24:06","slug":"strong-side-draw-tactics-from-open-front-garments","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gunowner-news.com\/?p=113","title":{"rendered":"Strong-Side Draw Tactics from Open-Front Garments"},"content":{"rendered":"


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By Massad Ayoob<\/a><\/p>\n

M<\/span>ore Americans now carry concealed handguns lawfully in public than at any time in living memory. Trends related to this can change over time; for example, appendix carry and pocket carry are trending strongly at the moment. Nonetheless, \u201cstrong side hip\u201d carry seems to remain the single most popular mode. Let\u2019s look at some ways to enhance efficiency in that regard.<\/p>\n

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When drawing a pistol like this XD-M<\/span> Elite 3.8\u201d Compact OSP 10mm from concealment with an open jacket, make sure you have the fundamentals\u00a0down.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

First, we have to consider the cover garment. These break down into two categories: open front and closed front. This article will focus on open-front styles.<\/p>\n

These may include jacket, vest or shirt. The presumption is that the operative term in \u201copen front garment\u201d is\u00a0open!\u00a0<\/em>If the suitcoat is buttoned, if the jacket is zipped, it is obviously no longer open front.<\/p>\n

Advantages<\/h2>\n

The majority of belt holsters are designed for dominant hand-side carry. All ranges that allow drawing loaded guns from holsters allow \u201cstrong side hip\u201d carry. This is important because any method you cannot practice regularly cannot be counted on for developing a reflexive draw in a life-or-death emergency.<\/p>\n

\"Ayoob\n<\/picture>
Here\u2019s a Springfield Mil-Spec .45<\/a>, flat to the body in a Mitch Rosen OWB holster, carried at\u00a0\u201c3:30.\u201d<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

For example, most police ranges do not allow cross-draw carry and many do not allow appendix inside the waistband (AIWB) draws. PPC matches were historically limited to strong side hip holsters, and so were IDPA matches from their inception in the 1990s until 2022, when AIWB was approved. However, some host ranges still do not allow AIWB even at IDPA matches. Many private shooting schools restrict holsters to strong side hip as well.<\/p>\n

Disadvantages<\/h2>\n

For most of an average day, our hands will be toward the front of our body when a danger signal comes. The hip, and particularly behind the hip, will be a farther reach to get at the gun than, say, the appendix position. This makes hip draw slightly slower.<\/p>\n

\"Ayoob\n<\/picture>
For safety, and peace of mind of the photographer, draw demonstrations were done with this Odin Press dummy version of 1911A1\u00a0pistol.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

There is also the matter of \u201cwounded defender\u201d draws. If the dominant arm is taken out of action before you can reach the gun, strong-side hip is much tougher for the \u201cweak hand\u201d to reach than if the weapon was in a cross-draw position or in an appendix carry.<\/p>\n

Be a Clock-Watcher<\/h2>\n

In holster-wearing terminology, it has become customary to refer to placement in relation to a clock face. Picture the human body in cross-section, at the waist. Front centerline \u2014 the navel, or common belt buckle placement \u2014 is 12 o\u2019clock. The lumbar spine is at 6 o\u2019clock. The right hip is 3 o\u2019clock, and 9 o\u2019clock marks the left hip. Thus, in strong-side hip carry, the right-handed pistol-packer is carrying somewhere around 3 o\u2019clock.<\/p>\n

Now, let\u2019s get more, uh, minute. Carrying at\u00a0exactly\u00a0<\/em>3 o\u2019clock can be problematic for concealed carry. Uniformed police and security guards get away with it because (A) they carry openly, and concealment is not an issue and (B) the shank of a well-designed uniform holster will be orthopedically curved, with the holstered gun (C) somewhat cushioned at the hip by a thick duty belt and an under-belt beneath.<\/p>\n

In concealed carry, the holstered gun at exactly 3 o\u2019clock presses uncomfortably and even painfully on the ileac crest of the pelvic girdle, in the area of the sciatic nerve. Moreover, right there on the edge of the hip the pistol tends to protrude and become obvious, which compromises the \u201cconcealed\u201d part of concealed carry.<\/p>\n

This is why most people who carry strong side concealed are really locating pistol and scabbard more to 3:30 or 4 o\u2019clock. Here, there\u2019s more soft tissue and less bone and nerve being compressed, especially with an inside the waistband (IWB) holster. Moreover, the drape of the concealing garment coming down from the latissimus dorsi creates a bit of a hollow between ribcage and backside, greatly improving concealment.<\/p>\n

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Because the pistol has been moved to the rear, this can cause some bulge at the back if the holster is straight up and the butt straight to the rear. This is why so many of the gun world\u2019s favorite strong side concealment holsters have \u201cFBI tilt,\u201d with the muzzle raked to the rear and the butt brought forward. This greatly improves concealability.<\/p>\n

Access<\/h2>\n

The draw can be broken down into two components: access and presentation.\u00a0Access\u00a0<\/em>means getting the gun hand down under the concealment garment and into a proper drawing grasp on the holstered sidearm.\u00a0Presentation\u00a0<\/em>means getting the gun from holster to index in a firing position.<\/p>\n

\"start\n<\/picture>
Hand positions at the start of the draw: wrist of the support hand near solar plexus with fingertips pointed toward the threat; three fingertips of gun hand in light contact with the abdomen and the trigger finger\u00a0straight.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

There are several approaches to accessing the pistol holstered beneath an open-front garment. IDPA, the International Defensive Pistol Association, is \u201cthe concealed carry sport.\u201d If you go to an\u00a0IDPA match<\/a>\u00a0and find yourself on a 10-person squad, you\u2019ll probably see 10 different techniques for getting the hand to the concealed pistol.<\/p>\n

\"strong\n<\/picture>
After throwing the coat to the rear, the author is able to drive his hand down to the gun and begin the\u00a0draw.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

My late mentor Bill Jordan popularized a hip-sway technique in which the holster-side hip was thrown back, to swing the cover garment away and clear a path for the holster. He advocated a few spare cartridges in the pocket on that side to give the jacket momentum to swing away. However, this was also moving the gun away from the reaching hand, and gave a very finite window of opportunity before the coat could fall back over the gun, perhaps fouling the draw. And of course, it wouldn\u2019t work while seated, let alone seat-belted.<\/p>\n

\"drawing\n<\/picture>
The little finger and heel of the hand sweep the coat to the rear while the hand drives down onto the\u00a0pistol.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Back in the 1950s, concealed holster pioneer and quick-draw ace Chic Gaylord came up with a method in which his left hand grabbed the garment at the bottom and swept it up to the left, pulling the right side of the jacket completely away from his right-side holster. Later in the 20th<\/sup>\u00a0century, Jack Manfre, a Chicago PD instructor, rediscovered it and popularized it locally as the \u201cDracula Draw,\u201d so called because it resembled a movie vampire menacingly opening his cape. However, it required an open space to that side of the shooter, still wouldn\u2019t work seated, and brought the support hand farther from centerline, slowing acquisition of a two-hand hold once the gun was out.<\/p>\n

Most people simply grab the garment with their gun hand, throw it aside, and then go for the gun. However, this still leaves a very narrow time window before we get four \u201cFs\u201d:\u00a0F<\/strong>abric\u00a0F<\/strong>alls on\u00a0F<\/strong>irearm and\u00a0F<\/strong>ouls the draw.<\/p>\n

\"gun\n<\/picture>
After a proper draw sequence, the gun is now on target to stop the\u00a0threat.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I came up with a technique that has worked well for me and my students, which I call the \u201creach out and touch yourself\u201d draw. With the trigger finger straight and the three digits below it slightly bent, the gun hand comes to body centerline and touches a little below the solar plexus.\u00a0Maintaining light contact with those three fingertips,\u00a0<\/em>the hand tracks back to just above the pistol: the heel of the hand and the pinky finger push the garment back\u00a0and hold it back out of the way\u00a0<\/em>until the hand can drop down and take a drawing grasp. This is the most foolproof way I\u2019ve found to keep the fabric from fouling between hand and gun until that grasp has been established. It will work seated, seat-belted, on your back or on your belly. It is demonstrated in my \u201cConcealed Carry\u201d video available at Panteao Productions.<\/p>\n

\"Dracula\n<\/picture>
This is the \u201cDracula draw,\u201d first conceptualized mid-20th century by Chic Gaylord, re-popularized later by Jack\u00a0Manfre.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

From there, go to the \u201cpress-out\u201d draw as quantified by the\u00a0late, great Todd Louis Green<\/a>: rock and lock the gun up and out to a retention position high on the ribcage. If there is a fast-closing assailant, you can fire from here and get a reasonable hit. Thrust straight forward, and if circumstances allow a two-hand hold, bring the support hand in from\u00a0behind\u00a0<\/em>the gun muzzle as you index on target.<\/p>\n

Support Hand Placement<\/h2>\n

The popular \u201cflat of the support palm against the torso\u201d will keep that hand from being crossed by the gun, but is not especially efficient for speed of taking a two-hand hold, nor from fighting off an assailant in a close-quarters combatives situation.<\/p>\n

\"support\n<\/picture>
The author\u2019s suggested support hand position at beginning of the draw expedites its use to block or parry during close-contact combatives.<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I recommend that during the draw the support hand be positioned with fingers straight, fingertips pointed toward an opponent\u2019s face. This is actually slightly faster for achieving a two-hand hold while still keeping it out of the way of the gun muzzle, but now that hand is much better positioned to block or parry an opponent who is very close.<\/p>\n

\"Ayoob\n<\/picture>
The support arm can also be used to elbow-block an attacker\u2019s\u00a0punch.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Conclusion<\/h2>\n

As noted, all of the above is for strong side hip carry beneath an open-front concealment garment. With a closed front concealment garment, the dynamics change significantly \u2026 and we\u2019ll go into that in a follow-up article, very soon.<\/p>\n

Editor\u2019s Note: Be sure to check out The Armory Life Forum, where you can comment about our daily articles, as well as just talk guns and gear. Click the \u201cGo To Forum Thread\u201d link below to jump in!<\/em><\/p>\n

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Make Ready with Massad Ayoob: Ayoob on Concealed Carry<\/span><\/h3>\n


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By Massad Ayoob More Americans now carry concealed handguns lawfully in public than at any time in living memory. Trends related to this can change over time; for example, appendix carry and pocket carry are trending strongly at the moment. Nonetheless, \u201cstrong side hip\u201d carry seems to remain the single most popular mode. Let\u2019s look […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":114,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-113","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gunowner-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gunowner-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gunowner-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gunowner-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gunowner-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=113"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/gunowner-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gunowner-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/114"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gunowner-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=113"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gunowner-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=113"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gunowner-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=113"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}